KFOG's "Live from the Archives 7"
Updated November 18, 2000
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KFOG's "Live from the Archives 7"Updated November 18, 2000 |
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On Tuesday, November 14, 2000, radio station KFOG 104.5/97.7 in the greater San Francisco, CA released "Live from the Archives 7," their annual collection of exclusive, live KFOG recordings. The album features 14 tracks recorded live at KFOG Private Concerts and Live Broadcasts. Tori has a live track on this album, namely "Concertina". Special thanks to Toriphile Joel for first alerting me to this. Tori performed "Concertina" live during a performance at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA on October 8, 1999. (You can read all about it in my TV/Radio archive.) Here is the track listing for the album from KFOG's web site:
There is a page about this album at the KFOG web site, where they also have the cover art. The web site reports the following about the album and includes all the Bay Area Wherehouse Locations where you can purchase the album. The album was also made available online at Checkout.com, but has unfortunately sold out! All recording artists donated their rare live tracks to the project, which is expected to raise over $400,000 for Bay Area food banks.
Live from the Archives 7 will be available for purchase on Tuesday, November 14 at Wherehouse Music stores throughout the Bay Area. All stores will be open at 8:00a.m.!
This year each customer will only be able to purchase two copies of Live From the Archives 7 per visit.
Last year, all 30,000 units sold out in 36 hours. Besides the 30,000 albums for sale at the Wherehouse Music stores, 5,000 copies of the album will be reserved for online sales through www.checkout.com. [They are now SOLD OUT.] An article about the release of this album appeared in the November 14, 2000 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle. You can read it online or below. Thanks to Joel for telling me about it. 7th Heaven James Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Writer
On a typical Tuesday morning, a solitary employee quietly opens the Wherehouse music store in Menlo Park.
Today is not a typical morning. The store will have five employees opening two hours early, at 8. They're braced for a stampede at the door. Three checkout lines will be open, one a cash-only express line for "Fogheads" holding fistfuls of 20s.
The occasion is the release of KFOG's seventh annual "Live From the Archives" collection, the local station's eagerly awaited all-star benefit CD. This year's disc features exclusive live songs from Ben Harper, Susan Tedeschi, Tori Amos and other favorites of the station's devoted listeners, the Fogheads.
All 30,000 copies of last year's Vol. 6 sold out in 36 hours. That's the fastest-selling CD in Bay Area history.
This year the run has been bumped up to 35,000 copies. "Live From the Archives" is available only at the area's 55 Wherehouse stores and online at http://www.checkout.com.
"People have been calling since last month," said Irene Blanco, an assistant manager at the Menlo Park store. Blanco wasn't working at the store last year, but her sister, Sylvia Hernandez, was.
"She's been telling me what to expect," Blanco said. "This thing's real big. " As she talked, a young customer asked whether the compilation was in stock yet. He's not the only one who can't wait.
The appeal of the "Archives" compilations is twofold. First, the tracks are instant rarities. Recorded at KFOG's private concerts for tiny groups of contest winners, the performances are otherwise unavailable. This year, Web sites for Phish and Melissa Etheridge have been buzzing about the release, which features tracks from both artists.
KFOG marketing director Jude Heller, who co-produced this year's set with fellow staffers Haley Jones, Bill Evans and Dave Benson, says the intimate shows are a real source of pride for the station.
"The artists are always amazed at how close the audience is. There's always that gasp, that initial reaction."
Once they settle down, she said, the musicians often feel inspired to try out new songs or play material they haven't touched in years.
"Countless times we've been told by someone's manager, 'Geez, I've been trying to get him or her to do that for years,' " Heller says.
Bruce Hornsby, who was on last year's collection, hadn't played for a tiny crowd for years before his private show at Yoshi's. Just a few weeks before he died, Michael Hutchence of INXS overcame an uncomfortable throat problem and sang anyway.
The second reason the "Archives" releases are so popular is the good will they foster. Each year's proceeds go to Bay Area food banks in seven counties. This year's disc is expected to raise more than $400,000. The total for the entire series passed the $1 million mark last year. Another annual holiday- season event, KFOG's Concert for Kids, takes place in two parts this year, with Joan Osborne and Shawn Mullins on Dec. 7 at the Flint Center in Cupertino and Joe Jackson and John Hiatt on Dec. 13 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco.
The food banks that receive "Archives" funding provide assistance for disadvantaged children and families, low-income elderly people, people living with AIDS and the homeless. Paul Ash, executive director of the San Francisco Food Bank, said his organization's annual distribution has risen from 3.5 million to 13 million pounds of food since the series began in 1994.
Money from this year's sales will help the Marin Community Food Bank buy peanut butter and milk for children who need protein and calcium, said Executive Director Anne Rogers.
The timing is especially appropriate, she said. "This event comes at a time of year when many families must choose between heating their homes and feeding their children."
Heller calls comments like that one "gulpers." "We're still so surprised what a difference it makes."
Donald Siek, a Foghead from Campbell who has every "Archives" CD but the first one, says he likes the fact that the disc is a benefit. This year he plans to dodge the station's two-per-customer limit by mapping an elaborate route to several Wherehouse stores.
"This is my contribution to the family Christmas list," he says. He and Patty Siek's two sons "have come to expect their copy every year," and he buys copies of "Archives" for his wife's sister's family too.
"They would be extremely disappointed if they didn't get it." Toriphile MaHinAgUrL has this to say about the version of Concertina on this album: i don't know if any of the bay area toriphiles have heard the live concertina track, but its really great...they play it on the radio from time to time on KFOG...i actually heard it a couple months back on the radio, before any announcements were made about the Live From the Archives CD, so i was really glad that it was coming out on CD...i can't exactly remember but i think tori says something in the beginning, but i don't know if that will be included on the CD or if they just play that part on the radio. |
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